Hey fellas. This is my first post to this site. I bought my mother a 2003 SE back in september. Beautiful car, i must say. Anyway, I just talked to her a few minutes ago, she said that the headlights were stolen last night. I can't even describe how I feel right now. I wish I could tear those punks apart. I read some posts on this site, and it seems like this happens a lot to our Max's. But what's this "Anti-theft HID kit" all about? Does it work? Is it worth it? My father put an order in at the Dealer. Anyone have experience with this? Any input would be appreciated. Looking forward to talkin with you guys.

maximus

 

Another victim!..



Get some rimlocks b/c your wheels are another target...

 

Yeah man. there is no real anti-HID kit that will effectively prevent you from losing your HID's. Sorry to inform you.

 

Intall good aftermarket alarm with HID antitheft kit

 

If I may, a quote from Pulp Fiction:

Vincent (Travolta):
"Boy, I wish I could've caught him doing it. I would've given anything to catch that @sshole doing it. It would've been worth him doing it, just so I could've caught him doing it. What's more chicken sh[t than fu*king with a man's automobile? I mean, don't fu*k with another man's vehicle. It's just against the rules."

All you 2K3's out there.....watch your Max!

A buddy of mine had the lights on his S4 ripped out twice. Now he parks on his driveway with the car facing the street, instead of facing his house. That way, the front of the car is out in the open, and those bastards are less likely to mess with it. Ah, hell, if they want to do something, they'll do it. We're at their mercy.

 

Hey sorry to hear about what happened man, but if you don't mind me asking, what part of nj are you from???

 

Good ol' Union, New Jersey.

 

I tried this tactic after my first theft (per the advice of both the bodyshop and the cops)... It didn't work very well... four days later they got the second pair.

Now I'm off the street... The only remedy until this sick Fad passes (like a bad storm).

 

No kidding....twice?? sh[t. I guess you're right. Keeping the car in the garage is really the only way to sleep at night. This headlight theft thing is unbelievable. It breaks my heart every time I look at the hole where those beautiful eyes used to be. I don't know of any car alarms that would monitor the headlights.
This really sucks. I mean, u kidding me or what?? I have to worry about the headlights being stolen every time I leave the car alone?
Bastards.

 

Either that or move somewhere where there isn't an HID theft problem. Judging by the posts here, NJ and NY where almost every HID theft occurs. Luckily (knock on wood), the Seattle area doesn't have a prob with it, but I still do worry about it.

Perhaps you should get an aftermarket alarm since it's obvious the factory "alarm" is useless. I did. To me, the lack of shock sensor and battery backup siren are big probs. I also had a tilt sensor added to mine to make it harder for people to steal the wheels (that has happened a bunch near where I live).

Some here on the .org have just converted back to halogen headlights... but it's not clear if the that'll make thieves move on, but at least replacing those is a lot cheaper.

 

"DAMN!!!"....when will the HID epedemic come to an end??? I hope who ever took your mom's HID's get what they deserve in the long run.

 

Same here njmaximus...happen over the weekend, posted here too...worst feeling ever, especially for those of use who love toasting Acuras, Feamers and others!

Nissan has an awesome thing thing going with the 2k2-2k3 max...let's hope 2k4 lives up the the NEW standard...If not G35 here I come!...

Maybe Infinit's don't have the stolen HID liabilities...a least the G35 shouldn't be liable...

I can relate dude...

 

Thanks man. I hope so too.....

 

I hear ya Drivn. So what are you gonna do? Just replace them and hope it doesn't happen again?
The G35 is a sweet machine, especially the coupe. I did have in mind the next S4 due here in October, but the G35 might be a better deal.

 

I got estimate from the insurance comp...~2500...I thought it was going to be more...I'll take my max to the body shop the insurance agent recommended. he said he has seen three other Maximas this week with stolen HID's that have all gone to this guy, three day job...I think these guys are hopping from neighborhood to neighborhood.

The G35 looks sleeker...let's not forget the price tag!

 

That's a bargain for your insurance company. My repairs cost 4,600 and 3,900 (the second thief caused much less fender damage).

I'm curious as to how they arrived at that figure? The lights ran $750 each ($1,500), and the wiring harness was an additional $1,200. Those two alone add up to more than $2,500!!

 

Stolen HIDs IN Union, NJ as well.

Same happened to me here today in Union, NJ in broad daylight right from my driveway on a main road nonetheless.

I park in the garage 99% of the time, the few hours i didn't, boom the HID's on my 03 Max were snatched.

This is terrible, Union is becoming as crappy as irvington and newark, 10 yrs and it'll all be the same kinda town.

ONE question for all you out there...
if i replace my lights with the 00-01 lights now, the non-HIDs,
do you guys beleive it will it be obvious to the theives that they shouldn't ****** them b/c they are not xenon?

if so how will they know, do they look that different?



Thanks in advance.

 

My HIDS were stolen as well - in broad daylight in the Yonkers (NY) Costco carpark.
When I drove my max into the dealer for repair, they were tranferring another max in Majestic Blue without lights to the bodyshop for repair.
The repair is quoted as $8500.

 

God almighty, I hate theives. Just let me catch someone trying to take my Max's lights. That's one reason why I'm glad I have this little thing called a concealed carry permit...and a Para-Ordanance 14-45 with theives suck a$$ logoed on the side...

 

Kmack, run a search, I read of some other members sugesting the same thing. I believe the 20th anniversary headlights is what some suggest. Not too sure though.

I had the same thought...But then again the HIDs on the Max were a strong sell point for the car...

FYI the halogen headlights are distintcly different compared to Xenons.

 

No $hit??? I used to live there and I hated the area (because of all the crime) but the Costco parking lot is very wide open. These theives sure have ***** to do it in such an obvious fashion. I could understand if it was down stairs at the Home Depot lot...it was much darker in there.

 

As a fellow NY'er ...I know the area & I know what you mean....that's why I installed an additional aftermarket alarm & Nissan Hood/HID kit hoping it will help to keep the punks away...

 

kmack, you're in union too? you're right about the town turning to crap. it's sad to see. but about your suggestion of replacing the headlights with 01's.....I thought about the same thing. This theft happened on new year's eve, and believe it or not, we still haven't fixed the car. We're still pretty undecided about what to do. At this point, we're looking at 3 options:

1) Trade it in for a V6 Altima. Our car is only 5 months old, but we'd stand to lose a lot of money.

2) Replace the lights with the 01 style, which i still don't know if it's feasible. The lights wouldn't look as nice, but....what are you gonna do?

3) Replace the lights with the correct pair, install a serious alarm with proximity sensor and remote, and babysit the car for however long we decide to own it.

I really don't know what to do. What part of union? My family is in the Battle Hill School area. (I've been up here in Boston for the past 8 years)

 

From my recent experience, and from reading the post in the org, and aftermarket alarm isn't really gone help. Think about it, the idiots get next to the car, the alarm goes off, people just walk by and ignore the alarm...five to ten minutes later your max is HIDless. I think the alarm will instill a false sense of security. I've asked the insurance agent, Nissan techs (not the service advisor), and the body shop where I got mine fixed. The concensus was its useless.

It literally will take them abot five minutes to rip, AND I MEAN RIP, the HIDs from the car. They either crowbar them out, or use some finesse and pop the hood open...Its just a matter f how much damage they want to do to the car.

I got my HID replace, like I mentioned before the HID were a selling point fot the car...but if it were to happen again, I would definetly get 20th aniv headlights.

For now I go out in the mornings in my max, and have it back home before dusk. It's ridiculous. Now I'm itching to get another car...

 

yeah...if they want the HIDs or even the whole car that bad , they're gonna get it.....but anything to draw attention or slow them down is well worth it

that's from personal experience & from every show I've seen on TV with those reformed thieves, they always said they looked for an easy target (the ones with little or no security devices)

 

hey... fellow union, NJ

i'm from the Franklin school region
whihc is next to irvington which is where a lot of "punks" live and i'm sure the theives of my HIDs were from irvington, even though i never saw them.

but...a) no wy i'm trading my car in.

b)NO ONE ANSWERED ME... HOW CAN ONE TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE 00-01 HEADLIGHTS AND THE 02-03 HEADILIGHTS when the lights are NOT on.
at this point peace of mind of not having the front of my car raped, is more worth it then the "look".

c) install it, up my insurance on it...

does anyone know or recommended a place to fix the HIDS with the 01 light in North NJ.

ALSO WHAT DOES AE lights stand for???

THANKS ALL.

KMACK

 

njmaximus, I considered the exact three options you listed above.

After being told that it would cost me an additional $8,000 to trade in my Max for an Altima, that pretty much eliminated option 1.

My body shop would not even consider option 2. For some reason they wouldn't even entertain the thought. He actually claimed he called Nissan and they told him it wasn't possible (all of us here know better than that).

So I opted for option 3. So far so good, but I don't credit my success thus far to the after market alarm I installed, but to the garage I rent near my apartment building. I still get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach everytime I come out of work at night, or go to the movies, mall, etc. I'm always afraid that my headlights will be gone yet again.

If anyone knows of an org member who has successfully swapped their HIDs for 2k1 Halogens, please PM me so that I may have option 2 available to me should this happen again.

 

While having some protection is, of course, better than no protection, I find it of little comfort to know that the HIDs can be ripped in less thatn ten minutes. If your in the mall, at the movies or weather the car is park in your drive way, by the time you, or anyone gets to the car, a least both or one of your HIDs is gonna be missing.

The best thing to do is to park the car where people frequent, say near the entrance to a store or theater. Also, try to park with the front end of the car facing out. And above all else, try not to park in the same place all the time...this is how mine got ripped out.

Best us '02 '03 onwers can do is hope we don't get hit...

 

Around 6 weeks ago, my HIDs were stolen. 2nd night I had the car. I live in the Bronx around 5 min. from the Yonkers Costco. In fact, I was just there yesterday.

I was so sickened at first that I wanted to just get rid of the car. Once I saw that I would stand to lose too much money, I decided to go with the '00-'01 head lights AND an aftermarket alarm.

I had Don (Pearl96Max) install the Viper 790xv. He did a great job and so far it's working great. This weekend, I installed the 2001 headlights assemblies. I bought the necessary clips and connectors from DAVEB at Courtesy Nissan. The lights fit pretty well. There's a slight gap between the bottom of the headlight and the bumper. I am about to begin working on the wiring. It shouldn't be too bad.

Once it's complete, I'll take some pics and try to write up a how-to.

 

b)NO ONE ANSWERED ME... HOW CAN ONE TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE 00-01 HEADLIGHTS AND THE 02-03 HEADILIGHTS when the lights are NOT on.


kmack - they just look different. Our headlights have 4 distinct individual lights in the assembly. The lights on the 01's are just one big halogen light. Pretty basic, nothing fancy. I think it's a pretty obvious difference. But I can't say for sure if those punk-asses can tell. I would think yes. They know what type of light they're after.

 

I'd have to agree. They probably know what they're looking for. It's a pretty distinct difference. I thought about leaving a little note next to my registration stating HIDs have been removed. Reminds me of the old "No Radio" signs from the 80's.

It's a very sad world we live in.

 

The HID theft situation is a big problem us 02-03 owners face. Sorry to hear about your mom's max, but if I may suggest:

Your mom and your friend may want to try parking their cars in their driveways with their HID's facing towards the garage door, as close as possible, almost to the point of kissing it. Have them park as close as they can to that or the side of the house, as long as there's some kind of wall their facing. I wouldn't say its a full-fledged guarantee, but I think it does help.

Other than that, parking your car in a garage is probably the best option.

Good Luck!

 

I hear your pain. I have a 03'SE 4 months old with 4K miles. My headlights got stolen last week in the parking lot of my office in northern NJ. I was backed in to the parking space(close to the building) with my front end of the car in full view of our offices. The theft occurred between 12:30 pm and 1:30pm a high traffic time here. If they want to get them they will and it does not matter how many people are around. They are so easy to get out they do not need much time. The repair is estimated at $2,900. The next day three more were ripped off about five miles from my office. I did write a letter to Nissan asking them what they intend to do to fix this problem. I do not expect an answer but it was worth a shot.

For now there is nothing we can do to prevent this.

 

So what states have HID headlights been stolen in so far??

 

So far I've only heard about these thefts occurring in NJ, NY and CT. Basically in and around New York City. According to the rental car agency I'm using until I get my Maxima back they shipped all of their rental Maxima's down south because the thefts are much less likely to happen there.

 

Actually, it's everywhere - just more in NY / NJ.

 

This has happened to me twice, and happens to many 2002+ Maxima Owners.

Nissan has know about this problem for at least 2 years, and doesn't seem to care. More Info

 

I live in chicago & they tried jacking mine but didn't succeed...they did crack the $hit out of my driver side headlight were I had to buy another one.....

I talk to a machinist yesterday & once I get my new driver side headlamp I'm going to give him my old one & he's going to come up w/ something so they cant steal these.....I'm thinking a metal ring that going all around the headlight but u cant see it & also metal tabs connected to it....(sorry no pics yet-- just imagine it for what its worth)---
I'll keep everybody on the org posted & ask for ideas when the time comes for me to hand over my headlamp so he can come up w/ something.....

 

The only problem with that is that they will still try. You might be sitting there with 2 busted lights instead of 2 missing ones

 

i say we create a big metal grill type thing .. like on them 4x4s to put over the light and while we're at it have it run down in front and back of our cars .. so that all those damn ppl that love tapping our bumpers parallel parking will kinda hesitate to do so =-x .. big sharp metal spikes =-D hhahaaa if only it was possible =-x